The program would largely mirror one established by the Clinton administration, abandoned by the Bush administration, re-established under Obama and then revoked under Trump. Image: Pressmaster/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffPresident Biden has issued an executive order to revive labor-management cooperative forums in federal agencies, saying they “provide an opportunity for managers, employees, and employees’ union representatives to discuss how federal government operations can promote satisfactory labor relations and improve the productivity and effectiveness of the federal government.”
“Labor-Management Forums, as complements to the existing collective bargaining process, allow managers and employees to collaborate in order to continue to deliver the highest quality goods and services to the American people,” the order says.
The order does not specify the exact form such forums are to take or the topics to be in their portfolios, other than to say that they cannot supersede collective bargaining agreements or management’s authority over “budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.” Agencies are to produce plans within six months for OPM review. Once plans are approved, agencies are to “ensure that the certified plan is faithfully executed.”
The program would largely mirror one established by the Clinton administration that in turn was largely abandoned by the Bush administration, re-established by the Obama administration and then revoked by the Trump administration. In their first two iterations, such forums had a mixed record, with some agencies much less willing to engage in such discussions and much more restrictive in what they were willing to put on the table.
Unions were strongly in favor though, with the AFGE union saying their return “will bring agency management and front-line workers together, fostering better relationships and dialogue, and improving our ability to identify and resolve issues.”
The order also seeks to create more Registered Apprenticeship job training programs in the federal workforce, which a fact sheet said are “a proven strategy to expand equitable training pathways to good-paying jobs, including union jobs.” The order directs OPM, Labor and other agencies to study and report within six months on barriers to such programs, ways to overcome them and additional occupations that could fall under such programs.
It further encourages agencies to “identify where they could include requirements or incentives for grant recipients or contractors to employ workers who are or were participating in RA programs, and, in appropriate cases, directs those agencies to require, incentivize, or encourage those requirements or incentives,” it says.
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